Apparatus for drying, heating, or cooling



apparatus, depending Von the form or condi-r tion of thevmaterial I provide for a reciproeating` movement of the retaining'wallsror louvres of the V treating chamber through :which the treating medium passes. v

And, in the treatment of so-me materials liable to bind or cake together I sometimes provide Within'the mass of the material one or more stationary or movable horizontal tubes or rods, and either with or without pro--V jections, whichassist to 31 keepr the material' gravitating through the apparatus as well as to vcreate voids for the' treating medium to penetrate through the mass of the material thus serving a dual purpose. A

Toreduce the pressure or suction. necessary fforthe' treating niedium'to be .forced or in- ,duced through the material to be treated, in

case of excessive obstruction, for example material in the form of fine grains, or liable Ato cake, I provide, through the mass of the material, vents for Ythe treating mediumv through then/mass ofthe material and -to enable the treating'mediuin to obtain access to the interior of the mass of the material and to penetrate it.y Y 7 Y I will now 'describeimprovements andap paratus according to my present invention with reference" to the accompanying draw.

tional elevationtwo methods of utilizing the outlet of the treating mediunifor improving its distribution through or over the material andj collection of solid orliquid .matter contained in' the treating medium.V

- Fig. 5 shows in elevatiomandpartlyin section,- asuitable arrangement of vertical angle barspn the outlet andV inlet sides for the treatingv medium for aiding its vdistribution and collecting matter 'from the treatin gmedi- -um;1a-lso horizontal specially formed'anglel bars for forming'vents in the material Fig.. 6 is azplan view, in part section, of

' LI'Fig.

Too

' Figi 7. is a perspective view of a particular 'design of'an'gle bar for forming vents in the material. y Y

Figs. 8 and 9 show respectively in `cross sectional elevation another .method ofi loosen- Y ing the material to be treated, and

Fig. 10 shows in diagrammatic' elevation another method of reciprocating the Vwalls y ofthe treating chamberv by simultaneously altering theanglesV of the louvres formingV the Y walls of the treating'l chamber.l

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. l the `material to be treated is delivered into a hop-V per 1 so that it gravitates between two containing walls 2 and 3 such walls consisting of narrowlyspaced transverse or longitudinal channels, strips or'louvres arranged in crossv sectiongat about an angle of 45 degrees the inner edges of the louvres being the lower edges. The treating medium for drying, heating or cooling, which may be a suitable gf-iis,is delivered through an inlet 4 into one side of avhousing 5, the inlet 4.- having a revolving cowl 6 driven from any suitable source, for instance by the action of the passage of the treating medium, and which disy tributes such treating medium in desired directions verticallyv and horizontally before passing through the louvres 3l so that thesaid treating medium operates effectively over the whole of the inlet surface of the louvred wall adj acent to the inlet with a consequent larger drying, heat-ing or cooliiigarea, o rV can be diverted inany desired direction by closing one or other of the openings of the cowl casing or the housing. T he'tieating' medium after passing through the material vis drawn or forced' out Vof an outlet 7.

Instead of arotating cowl 6 a series of5 Vfixed or movable vanes canbe arranged connected withY the inlet 4, these vanes havingv such Aa configuration that the said treating rmedium has va spiral fiow imparted to it to distribute it over the surface of the louvredf 100.

wall adjacent to Ythe inletY 4. To assist in maintaining the distribution of the treatingmediuin a pair ofsymmetrically arranged Vplat-es 2a maybe used to divide the passage to the outlet 7 into three separate angulari105 passages which spreads the treating medium `passing through the treating chamber, orl a `series o t conical baiiles 9, see Fig. 4, can be provided Voverthe outlet side of the housing spaced as shown but increasing in diameter towards vtheoutlet end, the innermost battle being 'closed with ra part spherical. portion l() at its centre but thev others being open at their centres for the: passage of the saidrtre'ating @H5 medium. In Fig. 3, insteadof conical plates 19, oneor more annular plates llis oi' are provided each arranged in Abetween a pair of discslfZ- slightly spaced from the plate .ll

but covering its central opening in` an axial 120 vdirectionlso that the said treating medium V.has to take a somewhat siniuris'pat-h out of theapparatus. lThe plate Vl1 and discs l2 are preferably'formed with concentric corrugafroni the materialby the said treating medium. In Fig. 2 is shown the'us'e of a conical plate 13 which may be perforated for distributing the said treating medium as it enters the Vapparatus'thisplate if desired being 130 i other convenient manner such as by movableA 9@ screens, shutters, dampers or battles, within fortlietreating medium, these baffles beingflm 1. tions; as shown to trap any Vmatter carried 1125 flared at its periphery yand fixed as shown adjacent to the f langed'pipe i'iXedito *they `frames kconnected atjthe `top and bottom to transverse horizontzl bars B carried at their ends'to slides A,` see Fig. l, the lower bar B is connected by a link G to a lever D oscillating about a pivot D at one end and connected at its other end by a link D2 to a crank disc F driven from a wheel Ii. Bars B move in slots A provided in the end Walls oi the housek ing 5, andthey may be arranged to move to.V gether parallel' or alternately one up and one 1 down. Owingto the additional free dust and surfaceexposed which will result due to the loosening'of the said material and the consequent reduction et resistance to the treating iedium and increase of surface contact he tween the treating medium and the material, it is desirable to provide means for collecting matter acquiredby the treat-ing medium during its passage through the said material. In Figs. 5 and 6 I have showna screen a at the outlet side of the housing for collecting any matter contained in the treating medium g a similar screen b also being shown in Fig. 6 at the inlet side, said screens also serving for the better distribution of the treating medium. Each screen consists of a number Vof parallel slightlyY spaced bars of V or other suitable channel section, for instance arcuateV section, the channel sides of the ,bars being f directed towards the inlet side for thesaid treating medium so that a large proportion of the matter collected by the said treating medium'will be trapped in the channels of the said bai's. t v

f To obviate undue resistance of the material from interfering with the requisite passage of the treatingmedium therethrough as an alternative orto assist the operation of the said reciprocating rods ortubes, louvres or Walls ther treating chamber can have disposed horizontally oi' angularly across it ai" number of angle or channel section bars el as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and@ the bars having their ends closeto the said louvres ifwlixed transversely but they may be fixed longitudinally as shown in the igures last named.

These bars are V section with their apexes uppermost as shown and as illustrated. in

Fig. 7 .have a portion or portions oi the side removed sothat the said treating medium maycirculate into the material through the spaces obtained by the said removed portions, the y channel end being open nearestV the louvres on the inlet side but may be closed at the end adj acent` to the exit side louvres. rlhese bars may also serve for dividing the Y chamberinto ysections transversely or longitudinally. 'Y

One' method ofV mechanically Yreducing the resistance of the material 1s shown ink Figs.

V8 and 9. In thisv arrangementfrods or tubes 2l'which latter may preferably be perforated are reciprocatedA across the direction of'passage offthe material. The rods'or tubes 21 are slidable in' guides 22a and are connected at oneendto an arm 27a which is rocked about a fulcrum point 28 the requisite rocking action preferably 'being obtained by a1 rotating Adrum 29 having a spiral groove in itsperipheryin Which" engages a `pin carried by the end" of the arm 27a the drum 29 being driven from anytsuitable sourceg'for instance gearing 3l,v part of which can be mounted on a shaft 82,-see Figp8, carrying radial lblades 33 operatingin the outlet=34 of the apparatus for obtaining an intermittentdischargeof the' mavterial.' In this instance tlierods or tubes can carry projections 21a if the are of the movement of the arm 27a 1s excessive which isfimprobable the said 'rods or tubes could be `connected to the said arm bylinks to compensatei'or such'aro of movement.` If

f tubes are used 2l`and 21a can be perforated for better,,distribution` of the'treating kmedium into the bulli or massief the material.

In order to assist the passage of the' treating medium or as an alternative means of loosening the said material the louvres 2 and/or 3vcan as hereinbefore described, With reference to Figui,- be Vref'ziprocated. The method shown in Fig. 1 is suitable with some materials land under some conditions, but in lOis shownano'tlier method in which louvres 87a each carry at one end anden each side a lateralrpin 35 of circular section, 'or a -rollermounted on a lateral pin, the pins or rollers 85 sliding in fixed horizontal grooves 36 provided in the end Walls of the louvres 37a afresecured to pivot pins 37 con-v neoted to aj vertical bar 38 which is reciprocated vin a `vertical* path thereby gradually `changing the inclination oi the louvres. y The bar 38 can-be reciprocated by rotating a nut @l2 driven in alternate directions from anyvsuitable source. This-method not only provides forv loosening the material but for varying the distance between the louvres yand their angle and the Width of the space. for

the material. At certain stagesin the operations, the louvresbyy the vforegoing mechanism canbe arranged to overlap leach other f treating chamber. 1 The other'ends of the rizo so as-to-completely isolate the treatingchamber from the said treating medium; so that f the saidtreating medium only obtains access to the material at the-appropriate or most` suitable moments. Likewise the maximum opening of the louvres and the space availablefor the material can beadjusted Yby regulating the amount of movement of Vthe bar 38, to compensate for dierent results required and conditions withdifferent materials to be treated. The patent hereinbefore mentioned does not detract Vfrom the advantages of my present invention-which'is primarily based upon experience with the apparatus described in the said patent and as `a result of such experience I am convinced it is awdesideratum to provide means for varying the resistance of; thelow of the material in the bulk and to loosenor form voids or vents tliereinfor the said treating medium f'tlie desired results are to be efficiently oband said inlet'and the other between the gle section bars being directed towards the said outlet, and means for moving-each set of louvresy up and down, and horizontal rods Vlouvres and the outlet, the apices of the anparallel with said louvres andcarrying exp tained. Further, looseningf7 as' I term it,

Yofthe material when in bulk form to bereadv y ilyYV effective should if possible have combined with it means for spreadingthe said f treating medium over as large an area of r the material as possible because obviously if for instancer in Fig. l the treatingmedium was not distributed in the manner described or in some equivalent manner-a large amount there is a greater transfer of the heating and cooling properties from the treating medium to the material kand vice versa. If the material is loosened'in the bulk tofacilitate its passage through the treating chamber and formed with voids to vary the resistance lof the passage of ther treating medium therethrough'there is much greater heat transfer than for instance in the apparatus described in Patent No; 1,424,565. j

What Iclaim'is v l. In `appara-tus for ldrying, heating or `cooling materials, a vertical treating chamber`v down which theV material passes by grav- I ity, an inlet fora treating medium on oneside Y `of the chamber and an outlet forsuch'medium on theopposite side, twovset-s of lou-v Y vres, one each side 'of the treating chamber,

and twol separated grid like sets of angle section bars, one between Vthe said louvres 'and' said inlet, and the otherzbetweenjthe louvres and the routlet, the'apices ofthe ani glesection bars being directed towards the ysaid outlet, Vand means for lmoving each set of louvres up and down,` and a number 'of bars across Vtlie'space between the Vlouvres I Vsuch bars being movable up and .down with the llouvres.k

i2. AIn apparatus `for drying, heating or Y cooling materials, a vertical treating chambei' down which the material passes by gravity, .an inlet for a treating mediumon one' side-of the chamber and an outletfor such v i medium on the opposite side, two sets of louvres, one on each side ofthe treating'chamber, and two separated gridY like setsof an-A gle section bars, one between the said louvres 

